Page 10 of Property of Stone (Kings of Anarchy MC: Pennsylvania #1)

Chapter Five

“Yeah, you are.”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t wrong.

Taryn feared this would end up being another bullet point on her list of decisions she regretted. This one might be written all in capitals and in bold. With a string of exclamation points.

Because she was currently taking steps to move into a house owned by a biker with her six-year-old son so she could help care for that same biker’s ten-year-old daughter.

How the hell did she get here?

By vehicle, obviously.

She turned right onto Village Road and slowly drove her Honda through the village of Dead Man’s Hollow. The fact it was even still called a village was laughable. It was more like an area that time forgot.

A few single-family homes, still in livable condition, were mixed in with the buildings gradually returning to the earth as they deteriorated from weather and a lack of maintenance.

The only business on that stretch of road was GetGo.

The gas station/garage/convenience store combo, with an attached tiny post office, sat on the corner at one of the four crossroads.

GetGo apparently was a one-stop shop, but she imagined most village residents took the short drive to Sunbury for the majority of their needs.

“Warnin’, my place ain’t big. Only got two bedrooms. One for me and Sunny’s got her own room.”

Oh yes, here she was, in a situation she never thought she’d be in…with a big, bad biker sitting in the passenger seat of her Honda Pilot.

He looked and smelled so much better today than on Monday. Most likely because he was no longer hungover or exhausted from pleasuring two women.

At. The. Same. Time.

He could’ve mentioned the fact that his place only had two bedrooms every time they spoke in the last few days when they were making arrangements.

Of course he hadn’t.

He wanted her to say yes to his offer and only having two bedrooms would’ve put another checkmark in her “hell no” column.

“Easy solution, have Sunny sleep with you. I’ll sleep with Wren.”

She didn’t have to turn to see he was staring at her. His dark eyes were burning a hole in the side of her head. “Ain’t happenin’.”

“What do you mean? I thought you wanted me to help out with Sunny.”

“You’re gonna. But gonna be sleepin’ in my room.”

“I am?” He couldn’t mean…

“Yeah.”

No. She wasn’t sharing a room with a stranger. A male stranger. “That wasn’t part of the deal. ”

“Yeah, it was. In the small print.”

“Even if I agreed to that”—she never would—“where would Wren sleep?”

“A bunk bed.”

“Where?”

“In Sunny’s room.”

Her head jerked back. This man must be smoking some pretty potent pot. “You want my son to sleep in the same room as your daughter?”

“He a pervert?”

“What? No!” She flip-flopped on whether she should laugh or cry at that ridiculous question.

“Then, it’ll work for now. They’re fuckin’ kids.”

“Won’t Sunny mind sharing her room?” Especially with a stranger.

“Ain’t up to her.”

“She might end up hating you for that decision.”

“Won’t be the first time,” he muttered. “But she don’t make the decisions, I do.”

“For me to agree with this, you need to take the couch.”

“Too late. Already agreed. Maybe I don’t got a couch.”

“First of all, I can revoke my bad decision at any time. Second, if you don’t have a couch“—she shot him a sure, buddy look—”you can buy a cot and sleep on that. In the basement, in the attic. I don’t care.”

“Said the house is small. No basement or attic.”

Now she knew he was lying. “I bet you could find a really nice tent to pitch in the backyard.”

“Kids might like that.”

“It was for you, not them.”

He sucked on his teeth.

She couldn’t believe only three days ago he talked her into this arrangement .

She still debated on whether to put her house up for sale. While she couldn’t afford to keep it, she also couldn’t afford to let it go into foreclosure. Something Stone had suggested at the time.

“If I let it go into foreclosure, it’ll ruin my credit.” Something he didn’t care about because the man probably didn’t have any. If she had to guess, he paid for everything in cash.

A really scary look came over his face. “What the fuck’s more important? Your life or your fuckin’ credit? Your credit gonna raise your son?”

No, it wasn’t.

One of the positives to this deal was, if she took his offer, once Vic was released from prison, he wouldn’t know where she lived. The house wouldn’t be in her name and if he needed to get a hold of her because of their son, he could go through her attorney.

“Then sell it, ‘cause you ain’t goin’ back there. No reason to keep it.”

She didn’t even know the guy and here he was trying to control her life. “What about my stuff?”

“Know a guy who’s got a movin’ company.”

Of course he did. “You want strangers to pack my stuff? All my personal belongings?”

“Said you ain’t goin’ back there.”

“ You said that, not me.” She couldn’t deny it would be smart to unload the house. It was too big and too expensive for her and Wren alone. She needed a smaller place with a reasonable mortgage payment. She was tired of struggling to maintain her marital home. One that also held bad memories.

While she had done her best for years, it was time to admit defeat. “Stone…”

“Babe…” He pulled in a breath through flared nostrils, then he ground out, “That asshole knows where yo u live. He might be gettin’ out any fuckin’ time now. You ain’t goin’ back there.”

“But—”

“Will get a coupla prospects to supervise the movin’ crew.”

“Great,” she said dryly. “Where am I storing all of my stuff?” She would need it for her next home since, if she took his offer, she’d only be watching his daughter until he found someone else to permanently take over.

Her involvement would only be temporary.

“Got a trailer out back at the clubhouse that we can empty and use to store your shit. This way, you need it? It’s within reach. Better yet, ain’t gonna cost you a damn thing.”

“You have all the answers, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are those answers always right?”

“Yeah.”

At the time, she had rolled her eyes at his cocky answer. Now, she rolled them at the memory.

But he was correct about one thing: Vic knew where she and Wren lived since he had also lived there previously. Of course, he didn’t know where Stone lived, or that they would be temporarily staying with him.

That could work to her benefit. After what he did to her in front of his own damn son, Vic did not deserve to know where they relocated.

Wren had been so traumatized, she had to take him to therapy for months, despite her money already being stretched thin.

But it had been worth every pinched penny since Wren was almost back to his happy, little boy self.

Her only worry was how Wren would react when he came face-to-face with Vic again. Something they might not be able to avoid if her ex’s supervised visitation was approved .

Her stomach churned.

As a mother, she wanted to protect Wren as best as she could. Even if it was from his own father.

They were almost at the end of the village when Stone said, “Last one on the right.”

The house was definitely dated on the outside. She hoped it was a similar case like the former school and was much better on the inside.

“Pull up to the garage.” The cracked macadam driveway ended at a detached two car garage behind the house but sat off to the right.

“Every time you come home, want you parkin’ in the garage. Best to keep your cage out of view.”

“I doubt Vic will be tooling through Dead Man’s Hollow.”

“Never know. He could hire someone to find you.”

Well, that was terrifying.

She can’t believe the man she married, the man she had loved, the man she chose to have a child with, turned out to be so unstable.

“I’ve been meaning to ask: why do you call cars a cage?”

“Bikers are only really fuckin’ free when we’re on two wheels. When we’re outrunnin’ the rain, got the wind in our face, and chasin’ a sunset. To a true biker, bein’ inside a vehicle with four wheels is like bein’ locked up.”

“Makes sense,” she murmured, shutting off her Honda. “But being inside a car means you won’t get rained on. You could open a window if you need air and sunsets can be chased in a variety of ways.”

He sucked on his teeth. “Find yourself a biker and you’ll get it.”

She would not be finding herself a biker. The one she was dealing with currently was more than enough. “Do you want me to pull into the garage now?”

“Ain’t gonna be here long. Gotta pick up your baby bird.”

Great. He reminded her of her next problem. She would have to find a way to explain to her mother why she and Wren were moving in with a man she only just met.

She couldn’t wait for that conversation.

After unfolding himself from the car, he grabbed his cut from where he’d thrown it on the backseat and shrugged it on. “You took it off only for the ride here? Is it uncomfortable?”

“Fuck no. My cut’s a parta me. As comfortable as a well-used pussy.”

This was who her son would be around? She could still back out of this deal since she hadn’t even moved in a toothbrush yet.

However, she wasn’t doing any of this for Stone. She was doing it to help protect Wren. Her son would always be her priority.

She was also doing it for Sunny, even though she hadn’t met Stone’s daughter yet. With the poor girl’s mother currently in prison, the thought of a woman like Juicy taking care of an impressionable young girl…

She turned and studied the back of the house.

He was right. It might be small but it had a backyard surrounded by a chain-link fence.

Even though the size of the fenced area was half-decent, most of the space was taken up by an above-ground pool and a play-set that included a tunnel slide, swings, and objects for the kids to climb. Wren would love that.

Attached to the rear of the house was a small deck that looked like it had been built in the last few years. On that deck was a grill, a small table, and a few folding chairs .